Floods shake northwest Turkey, five dead
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – At least five people have died after heavy rains triggered flash floods in northwestern Turkey, state broadcaster TRT Haber said on Wednesday.
In Kirklareli province, near the borders with Bulgaria and Greece, three people died and three are still missing after houses were flooded late Tuesday, local media reported.
Two more people were killed and 31 others injured in the Basaksehir and Kucukcekmece districts of Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, according to the authorities.
Pictures showed heavy rains that caused several cars to become afloat in the flooded waters of Istanbul’s northern districts.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said search and rescue operations would continue and pledged financial support to families in the flood-hit areas.
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Around 125 kilograms of rain per square meter fell in Istanbul in less than six hours, which is in line with what the city would normally expect in a month in September, the governor’s office said in a statement.
Torrential rains have caused unprecedented flooding in south-eastern Europe, damaging infrastructure and prompting evacuations.
At least two people died after torrential rains flooded homes and businesses in central Greece on Wednesday, while two people lost their lives in floods in Bulgaria’s Black Sea region on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Burcu Karakas; Editing by Christina Fincher)
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